Panera Bread

Stopped in for a goodie around 6 p.m., and I knew I was taking a big chance on the freshness of the baked items. Most of the time they are OK, but this time was really terrible. I ordered a pecan roll which looked delicious and loaded with pecans. Got it home and took a bite. It had a sour taste and smell. It was dried out under the pecans.
Panera: I was a fool to buy the item, but you should treat your customers better by tossing old, stale pastries.

I just came from panera and got the turkey sandwich, as I’m about to take my fourth bite being nosey something told me to open up the sandwich and there was a dead bug melted in my cheese!!! I’m so disgusted and done with that particular location.

Panera is Panera.
Completely expected.
Their options for vegetarians are good. All sandwiches my kid orders he likes.
Their breads and sweet bakery items are excellent.
Again, all is expected here. No surprises.

Always a favorite of mine, they have such a diverse menu and most of it is good. Join the rewards club, it is free and you ocassionally get tasty free treats.

Panera is good because:
Easy, fast food… without having «fast food»
Bagel selection is always full and tasty
Menu is changed up to offer new items
Staff moves quickly and seems friendly
Panera is not so good sometimes because:
Pricing is somewhat high & I’m not cheap!
Having ONE toaster for the entire restaurant to share is someone of a pain. Really?
Said toaster is crappy! Please get a new one (or three) that toasts bagels evenly without sinking into the toaster black hole of darkness. (Those of you who use this toaster can relate.)
Wish they served chicken & wild rice soup everyday and not just once a week
I’ve gotten home before and discovered I was missing someone’s sandwich or soup. This really stinks when it happens. Lesson learned! I always check my entire bag/​order before leaving the restaurant now.
And in conclusion…
Please replace some of your terrible booth seats!!! Holy —- really? I nearly dislocated a hip from sitting in a booth seat where I’m sure all the springs were shot. Felt like I was sinking into the seat the whole time and it was super uncomfortable.

Has been awhile since eating dinner here. Disappointing quality of food and prices have yet again gone up. This location seems to the the overflow for people who could not get into to eat at the good restaurants around Zona area. The new Soba Noodle Chicken bowl mediocre. The asian chicken salad was iceberg lettuce of mostly end pieces… Really…I think I’ll wait an extra 15 minutes on a better place to eat rather than waste $$ at Panera stores in the future.

This is almost laughable. I was at another Panera this morning, while I was in town from St. Louis for the day for a business meeting. The other location had Internet speed so slow, I literally could not load the webpage to select my health insurance for next year with my employer. I tried my laptop, phone, and iPad, and nothing could load the page.
So after giving up, I thought I would stop in this location on my way to the airport, since my flight wasn’t for 2 hrs. The exact same thing happened here. I tested the Internet speed at both locations, and the one this morning was 0.1 Mbps, and this location wasn’t much better, at 0.3 Mbps. The slowest speed I can purchase for my home is 30 Mbps… was these two locations range between 100 and 300 times slower than my home Internet.
Come in guys… get your shit together. I can get soup/​sandwich/​salad anywhere, but I generally choose Panera so I can get some work done while I’m here. When I can’t even load a webpage, it’s tough to get anything done.

This particular Bread Co is just ok. It doesn’t have that sense of urban core classiness that Panera is known for. It’s connected to a chinese buffet that clearly used to be a Ryan’s (or some variation of that) and it just has a weird vibe. I guess you can call me spoiled because I grew up with Saint Louis Bread Co (exact same company, different name) but I just figured they would all be the same. I think that from here on out I will just go to the one on the Plaza or Engelwood Rd. It’s just a nice, cleaner environment that makes me want to spend time there.

This is an okay Panera location. The food here just as good as other Paneras that I’ve visited. However, I have two big qualms about this location:
1) The times I have been here when they’ve been slammed by a lot of customers they don’t do a whole lot to get through the line quickly. I especially didn’t see another person open up another register or just take orders to alleviate things.
2) Their toaster is not big enough to handle their bagels. Twice I have put bagels in their toaster and twice I had to spend several minutes digging them out, trying the prongs provided that usually destroys them.
The food is good, it’s just that these two problems, especially the second one because I love my bagels toasted, are quite bothersome. So I’ll be here again if I’m in the area and really jonesin’ for a bagel or sandwich. Otherwise, I might look elsewhere for a quick breakfast or lunch.

Always awesome. I was disappointed when I noticed @ home that we had the wrong order! I went back to panera with out my receipt but the wrong order should be a dead give a away that I order & paid for something.
The manager comes over & takes my order. Without hesitation apologizes for the inconvenience & the offers a couple of pastries to help.
That is awesome service. The food is always awesome & I never have a compliant.

Amy G hit the nail on the head of why I love Panera so much: «You can walk into any Panera in any part of the country and know what to expect». Boom. And yes, this is true of McDonald’s and Starbucks, but at Panera it has healthy food that I actually want to eat. My current favorites are the Spinach Power Salad and the Country Mushroom Soup (though I think the mushroom soup is on its way out). I also can’t get enough of the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel. Paired with Hazelnut Cream Cheese is my favorite (and for the record, no it isn’t healthy, but it is a great treat!). The menu is hard to read at this location, but I’ve always had great service. The parking lot is a bit of a pain as well, since it is hard to get into and even harder to get out of and shares a smaller lot with a lot of other businesses. Still, once you have been to Panera, you have been to them all and I like knowing I can get something healthy in a sea of fast food restaurants.

Good food, reasonable prices. Scones are good, especially the strawberry. The bread is superb. For a chain, it is a good choice for on the road dining.

Panera is the Starbucks of the bakery world: Those who drink Folger’s write it off as too expensive; those who drink single-​origin Fair Trade coffee from The Roasterie write it off as mass-​produced chain fodder. Their virtue lies in consistency – You can walk into any Panera in any part of the country and know what to expect: Tasty baked goods, pastries, soup and panini that are somewhat healthier/​better quality than standard fast food. I look to Panera for breakfast or lunch on work days or when I am out running errands. My favorite breakfast item is the Spinach & Artichoke Soufflé. The puff pastry is tender and the eggs as always just soft-​set, just how I prefer them. It’s just filling enough for a breakfast on-​the-​go. They make a decent bagel, and I often purchase a «Bagel Pack» for meetings at work, and they are well-​received. It’s also an acceptable place to go if you find yourself in emergency need of a baguette. (Which does happen to me from time to time.) My quibble with this location is the service. I live nearby and am a pretty frequent patron, and have had small mistakes in my order (the wrong side given with a sandwich, missing a bagel, expired tub of cream cheese, some bagels sliced and some not,) the last five or so visits that I have made. I did give some friendly feedback to a manager several trips ago, and was given a voucher for a free meal, but have experienced many similar flubs in the weeks since. It is often said that the measure of an establishment is how they handle a customer service issue, should one arise. I don’t want to be plied with free food, I want them to take pride in getting it right.

This review is based purely on the drinks. I am not a Panera fan, so I don’t even bother getting the food at any Panera, even when I am hungry. To me, it’s over-​priced, mediocre deli meat sandwiches and Campbells soup. Seriously, that’s what I think of it.
However, many people like to meet at Panera, so I’ll do so and grab a drink. On this day, we were meeting the lovely woman who will marry my fiancé and I in the spring, so it was bound to be a nice get together at the ol’ Panera.
The layout of this Panera is just horrible, which is my big gripe. There is a column strategically placed to annoy you, because you can’t necesarilly see the whole menu from one spot. And it’s not just a «move three inches to the right to see it» column. No, it’s a «You’ll miss a whole half of the menu until you get practically right up to the register» column. How odd.
The location itself is kind of long and narrow, but that does mean most seats have a decent view towards the outside world. The service is friendly enough. The parking lot seems a bit odd, but maybe that’s just me? It’s certainly not the smoothest of parking lots.
All in all, a fine Panera with a quirk I haven’t come across before.

I come here way too often not to give this Panera five stars. I like the décor and ambiance — it’s open yet has smaller sections that seem more intimate — and it’s always cool inside and a little on the darker lighting side as well. They have the same menu as everywhere — sandwiches and salad and really good coffee that is self-​serve and thus «all you can drink.» Some pretty good Acai iced tea as well. I too was at first confused by the two lines, but it seems I can order soup and sandwiches or pastries at either cash register. Maybe if they are crowded or busy that becomes a problem. Usually if one line is longer I’ll be acknowledged by the other cashier and order there. I’m a fan of their turkey and avocado sandwich and especially the black bean soup which is low fat and vegetarian. All of their soups are pretty good. I think I’ve tried them all by now. The breakfast bagels are pretty good as well. I like the steak and egg bagel, but it’s more like Arby’s roast beef than steak. The Swiss cheese makes it’s a bit on the salty side.
I joined their loyalty club and so with a fob on my key chain I get free things and special deals. I don’t have to give my name anymore to pick up my order. It’s usually pretty fast. There’s free WIFI which works pretty well but is limited on bandwidth. I’ve seen people with a small cup of coffee and their papers spread out over two or three papers so it seems a popular enough place to come and work. It’s a mixed, diverse group of customers attracted I’m sure by the pretty decent prices, healthier menu choices and pleasant surroundings. The bathroom is not a «one seater» so it’s efficient if you want to stop here on your way somewhere else and make a «pit stop.» It does seem a little dingy but I haven’t noticed any cleanliness issues as of late. Thankfully. So for now I’ll keep stopping by this Panera. See you there!

Living nearby, I’ve come here often to get some work down, eat lunch, drink coffee/​tea, etcetera. It’s your standard Panera, staff is all friendly and nice.
My complaints? It always seems to be so overly cold in this Panera that if I don’t have a thick jacket, I freeze. Secondly, the bathroom always feels a bit dirty and you can tell it’s very minimally cleaned, never (or very rarely) deep cleaned i.e. there’s caked on dust/​gunk on rim of light switch, lots of dust on fan on ceiling and sprinkler on ceiling, rims around floor are dirty, etc.
All in all … it’s okay, nothing special.

This is an average Panera. Nothing fantastic or special as compared to the others. I love their salads, breads and cookies. One of my biggest issues with them, is their Bakery Line and their Café line. They really are pointless and confusing. People take advantage of the often shorter «Bakery» line to order salads and sandwiches and many others who try to follow the line «rules» get the short end of the stick by standing in the «proper» line. Paneras needs to get rid of this antiquated line system. That being said – I LOVE their Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad. It is just about 300 calories for a full size salad WITH dressing and the little chunk of french bread. Add butter to the bread and then you leave the 300 calorie range. It can be pricey-​about $ 11 for the full sized salad and a large fountain drink. YIKES. But it is fresh and it is tasty. You can ask for more bread and they WILL give it to you for FREE. They will also give you extra dressing, as the portion that comes on the salad can be a bit skimpy. So – it depends on how much calorie counting you are doing. The Fuji Apple Salad is really tasty, too. It has lots of chicken and dried Fuji apples. The Greek Salad – if you like feta and olives, is also very good. One of my favorites-​if you are not worried about calories and fat – is the White Cheddar Mac and Cheese — YUM-​O. (You can get the recipe for this on line, too… someone «cracked» the code and put it on line!) Also – the grilled cheese has tomatoes on it and can be served with your choice of soup – I LOVE the tomato soup with this sandwich – it is a winning combination. They do have free Wi-​Fi, but it can be slow, depending on how many people are using it. They also limit how much bandwidth you can use, so don’t go with the intention of downloading a few movies or TV shows.

I love Panera. They have such a great selection of well-​prepared muffins, cookies, sweets, sandwiches and coffee. I’ve never had anything from Panera that I was unhappy with. I just LOVE their bagels especially. Panera has great ambiance too. I’ve always been happy with every Panera experience, and this location is no exception. What’s not to love?